Product Description

With BIRTH OF THE COOL, Miles Davis distilled a new tonal palette for jazz. As early as 1954, Miles reacted to the escalating chordal complexity of hard bop by fashioning an evocative blues based on a simple scalar pattern ("Swing Spring"). KIND OF BLUE was the ultimate fulfillment of this approach, with Miles providing his collaborators little more than outlines for melodies and simple scales for improvisation. By emphasizing the blues and the improvisor's melodic gifts, KIND OF BLUE precipitated a major stylistic development--modaljazz. Charles Mingus had experimented with pedal points throughout the 1950s, and the melodic freedom of Ornette Coleman's Atlantic sides was also predicated on freedom from chordchanges. But KIND OF BLUE was to prove the most influential, enduring work of its kind. There was just such a vibe about these 1959 sessions--Miles' lyric genius and burgeoning stardom, the innovative voicings and rarefied touch of pianistBill Evans, the electrifying presence of Coltrane and Cannonball--that some thirty-plus years after its initial release, KIND OF BLUE is still recognized as Davis' point of departure towards jazz's less-explored regions. Bill Evans' translucent chords and Paul Chambers' famous bass line herald the revolution that is "So What": Davis and Evans' taut, coiled lyricism stands in sharp relief to the saxophonists' labyrinthine elation. The fat, shimmering beat of the classic Evans/Chambers/Cobb rhythm team is an oasis of calm throughout the childish blues "Freddie Freeloader." Often credited to Davis, "Blue In Green" is an Evans masterpiece, in which the rhythmic oasis becomes a smoky mirage for Davis' minor reveries on muted horn. The waltzing "All Blues" is one of the smoothest, most swinging grooves in the history of jazz, while "Flamenco Sketches" reflects Miles fascination with the earthy melodies and brooding metaphors of the Iberian peninsula...a harbinger of his next masterpiece, SKETCHES OF SPAIN. KIND OF BLUE remains Miles Davis' most evocative piece of musical haiku.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. So What 9:22
2. Freddie Freeloader 9:46
3. Blue in Green 5:36
4. All Blues 11:32
5. Flamenco Sketches 9:25
6. Flamenco Sketches (alternate take) 9:31
7. Freddie Freeloader - studio sequence 1 0:51
8. Freddie Freeloader - false start 1:26
9. Freddie Freeloader - studio sequence 2 1:26 (*)
10. So What - studio sequence 1 1:53 (*)
11. So What - studio sequence 2 0:11 (*)
12. Blue in Green - studio sequence 1:56 (*)
13. Flamenco Sketches - studio sequence 1 0:42
14. Flamenco Sketches - studio sequence 2 1:09 (*)
15. All Blues - studio sequence 0:18 (*)

Disc 2:

1. On Green Dolphin Street 9:48
2. Fran-Dance 5:48
3. Stella by Starlight 4:43
4. Love for Sale 11:46
5. Fran-Dance (alternate take) 5:51
6. So What 17:28 (**)

Disc 3:

1. [DVD] Celebrating A Masterpiece: Kind Of Blue documentary (55 mins)
2. [DVD] Robert Herridge Theatre: "The Sound of Miles Davis" (26 mins)
3. [DVD] Photo gallery by Don Hunstein

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13432 in Music
• Released on: 2009-02-23
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: CD+DVD

Customer Reviews

Wonderful
It's just arrived and the package feels like it is worth the money. I already have all the music bar a few fragments of studio sequences and the "previously released in unauthorized form" 17:28 version of So What, but for the Miles completist it's wonderful to have.

Now - to sit back and luxuriate in this sublime music once again!

A timeless masterpiece & more!
'Kind of Blue' is often cited as the greatest jazz album of all time and SONY have now released this sumptuous box set to mark its 50th anniversary. Apart from the original album which appears here re-mastered on CD and 180-gram vinyl, there are alternative takes, all the studio tracks from the 'Jazz Track' LP of 1958 and a 17-minute live performance of 'So What' recorded in Holland in 1960. The DVD features 'Celebrating a Masterpiece:Kind of Blue:Documentary' plus a 1959 TV broadcast 'The Sound of Miles Davis' and a photo gallery. There's also a 60-page hardback book of essays on the music.
This sextet of Miles Davis(trumpet), John Coltrane(tenor), Cannonball Adderley(alto), Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly(piano), Paul Chambers(bass) & Jimmy Cobb(drums) came together in 1959 to create a haunting, timeless masterpiece which Herbie Hancock described as 'a cornerstone, not just for jazz but for music'.
I first heard 'Kind of Blue' in the early 1960s and never tire of playing it. Although expensive, many fans of Miles Davis' music will want to acquire this lavishly produced box set which is bound to become a collectors' item.

Not as good as the box set but......
Well I bought this from Amazon about 2 months ago when it was clearly not yet released in the UK. It came from their Jersey merchant who sent me a product that looks like it was intended for the German market with a large and unsightly identity symbol imprinted onto the front cover which completely ruined the otherwise stunning aesthetic appeal.

Aside from this irritation the package delivers superb value for money with all the discs from the box set included.

No point in commenting on the music. If you can afford it get the box set because its beautiful. If your wad isnt large enough then get this and look forward to replacing it with the 60th anniversary edition when it come out 5 years early in about 2014